Chapter Summaries

Ji An completed his talisman and pill transactions, learned about the Purple Cloud Jade Ganoderma Pill formula, and attended a Golden Core auction. The auction revealed that his perfected Green Lotus Heart-Burning Fire enhanced Golden Core Pills, putting his secret talent on public display as bidding began.

• Ji An paid True Person Qingfeng for a Golden Core talisman-making method and asked to be notified of new Purifying Spirit Talisman missions.
• True Person Feiyun gave Ji An an auction invitation and accepted his thirty Vajra Pills, explaining their use against evil qi and naming pills that could aid mid Golden Core cultivation.
• Ji An learned that the Purple Cloud Jade Ganoderma Pill formula cost three hundred thousand Contribution Points and two hundred High-grade Spirit Stones, then attended the Cloud Sea auction in a private room.
• True Person Dongxuan introduced Golden Core Pills refined with the perfected Green Lotus Heart-Burning Fire, claiming they raised the chance of forming a Golden Core more than ordinary pills.
• A Third Order Four-Star Alchemist verified True Person Dongxuan's claims, while Ji An suspected someone had revealed his spirit fire to the auction house.

Ji An attended an auction where pills refined with Green Lotus Heart-Burning Fire and a rare herb for dissolving low-grade Golden Cores fetched high prices. After buying batches of cultivation pills, he unknowingly broke an unspoken bidding rule and drew True Person Lingxiao into costly bids.

• Golden Core Pills refined with Green Lotus Heart-Burning Fire sold for up to two thousand four hundred High-grade Spirit Stones, while True Person Feiyun explained their benefits to True Person Zixia.
• The Lotus Leaf Spirit Transformation Grass sold for nine thousand six hundred High-grade Spirit Stones after bidders competed fiercely for the chance to dissolve and reform a low-quality Golden Core.
• Ji An bought two batches of Spirit Resonance Essence Tempering Pills for one thousand eight hundred High-grade Spirit Stones each, then failed to win several later batches.
• Ji An bid against other cultivators for pills refined from a Kui Mu Ape's inner core, and the price reached eight hundred High-grade Spirit Stones.
• True Person Lingxiao bid against Ji An for Moon Gazing Rhinoceros inner-core pills, then overpaid one thousand five hundred High-grade Spirit Stones when Ji An stopped bidding.

Ji An bought and tested pills from the auction while Wan Jinrong reported a Golden Core-level Yin Demon, prompting True Lord Pingtian to alert two major sects. After testing the pills’ effects, Ji An accepted True Person Qingfeng’s invitation to a Golden Core trading gathering.

• Ji An received and inspected the pills he had bought at auction, then paid Lingwei five thousand six hundred High-grade Spirit Stones.
• Wan Jinrong returned from Mist Mountain after killing a Golden Core-level Yin Demon and reported that his five subordinates had died.
• True Lord Pingtian sent trusted disciples with warnings to Taihua Sect and Taixu Sect after hearing Wan Jinrong’s report.
• Ji An tested pills made from Kui Mu Ape and Earth Dragon Beast inner cores and found their effects weaker than the Spirit Resonance Essence Tempering Pills.
• True Person Qingfeng invited Ji An to a Golden Core trading gathering, and Ji An agreed to attend.

Ji An attended a small trade gathering in Cloud Sea Immortal City and traded twenty pills for the Immovable Wisdom King Art after finding that its body cultivation method resembled the Molten Gold Jade Bone Body. He left with the jade slip, while True Person Swallowing Heaven gained pills to advance his cultivation.

• Ji An asked Zhang Jun to report Golden Core breakthroughs and compare prices for medicinal materials, then arranged to meet him for a purchase in the immortal city.
• Ji An and True Person Qingfeng attended a small trade gathering, where Ji An reunited with Wan Jinrong, the artifact refiner who had made his Green Lotus Treasure Color Banner.
• True Person Sanshan offered a third-tier low-grade flying sword in exchange for a third-tier High-Grade Fire Element Spiritual Item.
• True Person Swallowing Heaven offered the Immovable Wisdom King Art, and Ji An inspected its jade slip and recognized similarities to the Molten Gold Jade Bone Body.
• Ji An bargained with True Person Swallowing Heaven and exchanged twenty pills made with demon beast inner cores for the cultivation method.

Ji An attended a trade fair, invited Wan Jinrong and True Person Qingfeng to socialize, and studied the Immovable Wisdom King Art after returning to his cave dwelling. The next morning, Wan Jinrong visited Black Stone Mountain and gifted him two Phoenix Perch Wood seeds, which Ji An recognized from their earlier discussion of Phoenix Dance Danxia Tea.

• Wan Jinrong traded for mid-grade third-tier Geng Metal, while True Person Qingfeng exchanged two divine thunder talismans for Golden Core-level beast materials at the trade fair.
• Ji An advertised that he wanted spiritual plant seeds, then told Wan Jinrong and True Person Qingfeng that he planned to live long-term at Black Stone Mountain and hoped to reach the Nascent Soul Realm.
• After the gathering, Ji An studied the Immovable Wisdom King Art in his small world and decided to cultivate its body-refinement methods without its visualization practice.
• The next morning, Wan Jinrong visited Black Stone Mountain and presented Ji An with two unusual third-tier Fire Element spirit seeds.
• Ji An recognized the seeds as Phoenix Perch Wood seeds, linking them to the Phoenix Dance Danxia Tea he and Wan Jinrong had tasted in Western Continent.

Ji An and Wan Jinrong shared spirit wine and discussed the history of the Shi cultivators’ techniques and the dangers of their faith. Wan Jinrong then bought Ji An’s remaining Calming Spirit Talismans and Purifying Spirit Talismans, suggesting he expected them to be in high demand.

• Ji An served Wan Jinrong Green Leaf Wine and Pine Nut Wine, and they discussed Ji An’s cultivation of third-tier Spirit Plants and his sect’s support.
• Wan Jinrong explained that Shi cultivators from the Western Continent had spread techniques on the Eastern Continent, but their attempts to draw followers caused a struggle of the Dao.
• Ji An learned that the Immovable Wisdom King Art might contain secret transmissions and agreed to avoid cultivating its other parts.
• Wan Jinrong asked to buy Ji An’s Calming Spirit Talismans and Purifying Spirit Talismans, and Ji An sold him two Calming Spirit Talismans and one hundred Purifying Spirit Talismans.

After selling talismans, Ji An prepared his small world to produce talisman materials independently and gained a powerful enlightenment about Yin and Yang balance and the Gathering Origin Tree. Suspecting that a demon seal had loosened ahead of schedule, he left for Cloud Sea Immortal City to begin buying spiritual seeds.

• Wan Jinrong bought Ji An's talismans and warned him that Purifying Spirit and Calming Spirit Talismans would soon be in heavy demand.
• Ji An harvested his Pearl Blood Rice, cleared the fields, and planned to grow the herbs needed to make talisman paper.
• Ji An planted Phoenix Perch Wood and cultivated with several spells, then gained enlightenment about Dragon Tiger Union and the Gathering Origin Tree's role in stabilizing his small world.
• Ji An found that the enlightenment had greatly increased his Golden Core mana, but could not reproduce the state when he tried the spells again.
• Suspecting that another demon lair's seal had loosened, Ji An traveled to Cloud Sea Immortal City and asked Zhang Jun to buy spiritual seeds with the money he provided.

After the Golden Core breakthrough succeeded, Ji An collected the spirit seeds Zhang Jun had purchased and used Stone Turtle to nourish the Gathering Origin Tree, though its grade did not increase. Hearing of another cultivator’s impending breakthrough, Ji An went to Cloud Sea Pharmacy and bought seeds for all the Golden Core Pill ingredients, leaving with plans to cultivate them himself.

• A cultivator completed a Golden Core breakthrough, and Stone Turtle showed Ji An his updated Dao Rhymes.
• Zhang Jun delivered the requested seeds and returned Spirit Stones; Ji An rewarded him and hired him to purchase medicinal herbs regularly.
• Ji An tried to raise the Gathering Origin Tree’s grade with Dao Rhymes, but it only gained a little spiritual light, so he planned to obtain more Dao Rhymes through Golden Core breakthroughs.
• Zhang Jun told Ji An that another Immortal City cultivator was breaking through, and Ji An went with him to buy Golden Core Pill ingredient seeds.
• At Cloud Sea Pharmacy, Ji An presented the Golden Core Pill formula and bought twenty kinds of spirit seeds for twenty batches, paying two High-grade Spirit Stones.

Ji An received a Purple Cloud Tree spirit seed from True Person Qingfeng and continued cultivating in his cave abode and small world while worrying about his incomplete cultivation inheritance. Meanwhile, the Nascent Soul True Lords agreed on a response to the growing threat at Mist Mountain, and True Monarch Fufeng proposed reviving a plan to cultivate demonic cultivators.

• Ji An accepted a Purple Cloud Tree spirit seed from True Person Qingfeng and gave him a jar of Pine Needle Tea in return.
• Ji An planted Golden Core Pill spirit seeds in his medicinal garden, then planted the Purple Cloud Tree seed and other seeds in the small world before cultivating beneath the Heaven and Earth Spirit Tree.
• Ji An considered his need to improve his cultivation before the Five Elements Sect Ruins opened and worried that his sect's inheritance lacked the method for advancing beyond mid Golden Core.
• True Monarch Pingtian described the growing mist and the Golden Core level Yin Demon at Mist Mountain to the Nascent Soul True Lords gathered at Taihua Mountain.
• The Nascent Soul True Lords agreed to send disciples and independent cultivators to hunt demons at Mist Mountain while searching for the demon den and establishing a purification formation.
• True Monarch Fufeng proposed reviving the Demonic Cultivator Plan, arguing that demonic cultivators could be allowed to cultivate in surviving demon dens after the True Demon Tribulation.

After witnessing a cultivator die during her Golden Core tribulation, Ji An reflected on the dangers of the immortal path and discovered that the Stone Turtle had absorbed the Dao Essence left behind. He then advanced the Gathering Origin Tree to the Third Order, establishing atmospheric circulation in his small world and deepening his understanding of the Five Elements.

• A female cultivator failed to withstand the Chaos Thunder Tribulation and died, leaving Ji An shaken by the dangers of breaking through to the Golden Core.
• Ji An discovered that the Stone Turtle had absorbed the unclaimed Dao Essence from the failed tribulation and decided to put it to use.
• Ji An ordered the Stone Turtle to refine the spiritual opportunity and raise the Gathering Origin Tree's rank, then practiced the Immovable Wisdom King Art and reached the Marrow Cleansing realm.
• The Gathering Origin Tree transformed to the Third Order, and elemental winds began circulating through the small world as its air membranes vanished.
• Ji An examined the transformed tree and gained a deeper understanding of how the Five Elements gathered and transformed through yin and yang.

The Wan Clan prepared to support the Southern Region's campaign against the danger at Mist Mountain and selected clan members for a new demonic cultivation organization. Two years later, Ji An successfully refined the Fire Origin Pill, restoring his path to rapid cultivation growth, then inspected the plants and resources in his small world.

• True Monarch Yuanrong told the Wan Clan that the Southern Region's True Lords had agreed to eliminate the danger at Mist Mountain, and Wan Ziyang assigned the clan's Golden Core True Persons to stockpile supplies.
• Wan Ziyang announced that the clan would select members with steadfast Dao Hearts and lesser aptitude for five hundred places in an organization that cultivated using demonic qi and demons.
• Ji An successfully refined the Fire Origin Pill and found that it provided substantial medicinal effects at a fraction of the cost of a Spirit Resonance Essence Tempering Pill.
• Ji An named the new pill the Fire Origin Pill and inspected his Jade Pupae, treasured plants, Spirit Vein, and Golden Core Pill ingredients in the small world.
• Ji An found that limited space constrained his planting plans and decided not to spend his Dao Rhymes on raising the small world's Spirit Vein grade yet.

Ji An surveyed the spirit plants and resources in his small world, then learned that a demon den had appeared at Mist Mountain and that Cloud Sea Immortal City might eventually conscript certified cultivators. He left True Person Qingfeng with a new sense of urgency as the situation in Central Continent began to change.

• Ji An inspected his spirit plants, noting their growth, the difficulty of using their fruits without suitable pill formulas, and his plans to cultivate higher-grade plants.
• Ji An discovered an Origin Seeking existence among the Fire Crystal Ants and collected its corrosive formic acid.
• Ji An arrived at Cloud Sea Immortal City and found cultivators rushing through the city in confusion.
• True Person Qingfeng told Ji An that a demon den had appeared at Mist Mountain and that the Cloud Sea Merchant Alliance was organizing cultivators to garrison and purify the area.
• True Person Qingfeng explained that Mist Mountain lay between Cloud Sea Immortal City, Taihua Sect, and Taixu Sect, and that certified cultivators could be conscripted if necessary.
• Ji An hurried away, while True Person Qingfeng anticipated that talismans and other resources for resisting demonic threats would soon become more expensive.

Ji An bought materials to refine Fire Origin Pills, cultivated with the premium pills, and continued tempering his Li Di Flame Light Banner with lightning. After repairing its damage with a Life Crystal, he watched the Spirit Tool complete its transformation into a crimson Phoenix Bird.

• Ji An bought medicinal materials for twenty batches of Fire Origin Pills from Cloud Sea Pharmacy.
• Ji An refined eighty-one Fire Origin Pills, including fifty premium pills, then planted Crimson Cloud Pines in his small world.
• Ji An swallowed a premium Fire Origin Pill and cultivated with the Five Elements Cycle Scripture.
• Ji An took the Li Di Flame Light Banner to Accumulating Thunder Valley and used a Life Crystal to repair its lightning damage.
• After half a month of further tempering, the Li Di Flame Light Banner endured a powerful lightning strike and transformed into a crimson Phoenix Bird.

Ji An completed the transformation of his third Five Elements Banner into a Dharma treasure and learned that the True Demon Tribulation might fully erupt in about 120 years. After taking on pill-refinement assignments, he left to consider how he would survive the coming calamity and resolved to visit Mist Mountain after reaching mid Golden Core.

• Ji An welcomed the Phoenix Bird back into his palm and accepted the strain of nurturing three Dharma treasures.
• Ji An asked Wan Jinrong about refining imitation Five Elements Banners, learned the methods were held elsewhere, and identified the Taixu Sect as a possible source.
• Ji An agreed to refine five batches of Golden Core Pills for Cloud Sea Auction House and accepted an Association assignment for twenty batches of Vajra Pills.
• True Person Feiyun told Ji An that a full True Demon Tribulation could last two or three hundred years and guessed it would erupt in about 120 years.
• Ji An considered hiding or returning to Western Continent but decided to visit Mist Mountain after reaching mid Golden Core before choosing whether to stay or leave.

Ji An broke through to Golden Core Layer 3 in the Gourd World, then submitted Purifying Spirit Talismans to the Certification Association and exchanged his accumulated Contribution Points for the Geng Metal Divine Thunder Talisman inheritance. He began studying the complicated Third Order thunder-talisman method.

• Ji An advanced to Golden Core Layer 3, releasing a powerful spiritual pressure that drew the spirit beasts and magic treasures to celebrate with him.
• Ji An rewarded the spirit beasts with Second Order Spirit Fruits and had the Azure Water Turtle catch fish for a celebratory meal.
• Ji An submitted eight hundred and fifty Purifying Spirit Talismans to True Person Qingfeng and received Spirit Stones and five thousand Contribution Points.
• Ji An used his total of one hundred and three thousand two hundred Contribution Points to obtain the Geng Metal Divine Thunder Talisman jade slip.
• Ji An read the inheritance and learned that drawing a Third Order thunder talisman required intricate techniques and unusually demanding materials.

Ji An obtained a method for drawing the Geng Metal Divine Thunder Talisman and offered the association his Fire Origin Pill formula in hopes of securing resources for his cultivation. Back at Black Stone Mountain, he raised the Solidify Gold Art to Great Perfection and studied a technique for making stronger thunder-talisman paper.

• Ji An exchanged for a method to draw the Geng Metal Divine Thunder Talisman, and True Person Qingfeng warned him that third-tier talismans were difficult and costly to make.
• True Person Feiyun told Ji An that no suitable Golden Core missions were available, so he offered her an ordinary-quality Fire Origin Pill for the association to assess and consider purchasing its formula.
• Ji An returned to Black Stone Mountain and used the Stone Turtle to raise the Solidify Gold Art from 92% mastery to Great Perfection.
• Ji An entered his small world, cultivated the Five Elements Cycle Scripture, and studied the Geng Metal Divine Thunder Talisman inheritance.
• Ji An learned that Lightning Attracting Grass could be used to make talisman paper capable of bearing more mana, and noted that he had four second-tier high-grade plants in his small world.

Ji An’s Fire Origin Pill formula passed the Certification Association’s evaluation, and he negotiated a long-term share of its sales. True Person Feiyun secured approval for him to obtain the Purple Cloud Jade Ganoderma Pill formula in advance, leaving Ji An with the formula and a debt to repay over ten years.

• True Person Feiyun identified the Fire Origin Pill’s main ingredients and had True Person Qinghua test its efficacy, which was lower than the benchmark but carried fewer pill toxins.
• True Person Qinghua judged the Fire Origin Pill worth buying if it sold at a reduced price, and True Person Feiyun invited Ji An to discuss the formula.
• True Person Feiyun offered Ji An five percent of Fire Origin Pill sales and ten Contribution Points per pill during the branch’s ten-year exclusive period, followed by smaller shares after that.
• Ji An asked to use future proceeds as collateral for the Purple Cloud Jade Ganoderma Pill formula, and True Person Feiyun agreed to seek an exception from the other True Persons.
• True Person Feiyun told Ji An the exception had been approved, requiring repayment of 360,000 Contribution Points over ten years and 200 High-grade Spirit Stones upfront.
• Ji An paid the Spirit Stones, settled 36,000 Contribution Points, and received the Purple Cloud Jade Ganoderma Pill formula.

Ji An exchanged pill formulas with True Person Feiyun and learned that her organization could gather hundreds of batches of Fire Origin Pill ingredients, then searched for seeds to begin cultivating the formula’s herbs. After planting what he could obtain in the Gourd World, he checked on the Vajra Bodhi Fruit he needed for his cultivation.

• Ji An gave True Person Feiyun the Fire Origin Pill formula, and she offered to mobilize resources and settle his earnings every six months.
• Ji An bought spiritual seeds for about sixty batches of pills, but Cloud Sea Pharmacy could not provide enough seeds and had none of the scarce Purple Cloud Tree seeds.
• Ji An searched other large shops for seeds, then returned to Black Stone Mountain and planted them in the Gourd World.
• Ji An considered commissioning a high-grade puppet, recalling that Soul Stones could serve as its core, and anticipated gathering Dao Rhymes at Cloud Sea Auction House’s auction the following year.
• Ji An checked the Vajra Bodhi Fruit, which he needed to make medicinal paste and advance his Immovable Wisdom King Art.

Ji An harvested and processed Vajra Bodhi Fruits into medicinal paste to strengthen his body, then visited the Golden Puppet Pavilion to commission an intelligent servant puppet and learn about combat puppets made from Vajra Bodhi Wood. He left considering a large Golden Core-level puppet as the True Demon Tribulation approached.

• Ji An practiced his thunder spells and cultivated beneath the Gathering Origin Tree, then gathered the ripened Vajra Bodhi Fruits three days later.
• Ji An refined the fruit peels into Vajra Sand, prepared medicinal paste, sealed it to ferment, and rested.
• Ji An traveled to the Golden Puppet Pavilion and asked Fang Shiping to arrange a Puppet Master for an intelligent servant puppet, offering his own Soul Stone.
• True Lord Xuanmu met Ji An, confirmed the Soul Stone was sufficient, and introduced puppets made from Vajra Bodhi Wood that could combat demons.
• Ji An asked about the size and combat ability of the Vajra Bodhi Wood puppets, and True Lord Xuanmu described a design three zhang and six chi tall with Golden Core Perfection strength.

Ji An commissioned a highly intelligent puppet from the Golden Puppet Pavilion and cultivated with medicinal mud while waiting for it. After collecting the finished puppet, he brought it into his small world and taught it to manage a wide range of tasks.

• Ji An asked True Lord Xuanmu about late Golden Core puppets and arranged to provide Vajra Bodhi Wood and Soul Stones for a custom puppet.
• True Lord Xuanmu consulted Pavilion Master True Lord Xuanji, who supplied a list of required materials and quoted a refining fee of fifty High-grade Spirit Stones for a second-tier puppet.
• While the puppet was being made, Ji An used medicinal mud to cultivate the Immovable Wisdom King Art and found that the practice complemented his Five Elements Cycle Scripture.
• Ji An returned to the Golden Puppet Pavilion, stored his Mana Seal in the finished puppet, and learned how to maintain and operate it.
• Ji An brought the puppet into his small world and taught it to sort Jade Pupae, care for spiritual creatures and plants, and prepare food.
• The puppet quickly mastered its assignments, and Ji An was pleased that he had gained a capable long-term laborer.